My vet just prescribed Baytril for my 8 month old girl. But when I got home I read this:

Also, due to potential joint and cartilage damage, it is often advised that Baytril should not be used in the younger canine during their rapid growth phase, approximately 2 to 8 months in small to medium dogs, 2 to 12 months in larger dogs and 2 to 18 months in giant breeds.

Of course my vet is gone for the night and wont be back till wed, so I feel left in the dark

Has anyone had negative experiences with it??

I will not give Baytril to my dogs until the growth plate closes (usually around 18 mos.) My vote is do not give it if you can wait to talk to your vet tomorrow. What ailment has it been prescribed for? Was a culture done to determine that Baytril was the only choice? Perhaps there is a different antibiodic that would work. Keep us posted.

i would ask for another med to use. baytril is a great med, but why risk it.
adam

My vet put my 13 1/2 year old Cocker on Baytril 2 weeks ago. He had a major ear infection and my vet thought that this was the best med to treat it with. He has never had me give it to anyone under the age of 2 years. I too had heard that it can mess with joints. So far the old Cocker is doing well on it. One more dose and hopefully its all over. I would wait and talk it over with the vet before giving it to your young lab.

If you read all the information it will clearly state that studies done on baytril proved that side effects are an issue with long term, high doses.

I used it on a litter of 4 week old pups with parvo and there were no side effects. The pups that survived are all doing great. They were only on a dose of .05 mg twice daily for 5 days. No joint issues at all in any of them.

At the same time I do agree that baytril is not the drug for everything and you are right to question it.

Good luck.

Thank you everyone for your responses. I also was told by an alternative vet that it was the long term doses that cause the joint issues. My girl is only on it for 7 days thank goodness. She has an infection of some sort and I decided to treat with antibiotics before runnign her through all these tests that may not be needed. If she doesnt respond to the Baytril, then we will start lookign deeper. Its just scary because the last thing I want to do is put my girl at risk for joint issues I will wait to talk with my vet more before I make a decision. Thank you again!